Recent Alumni

Philip Holbrook (2007): I have been a resident of Los Angeles, more specifically West Hollywood, for the past six years since graduating from UMW. It is an amazing area with a very diverse and liberal population that suits me well. I have come to love life in California. Over the years, I have been employed in the film industry as a Producer, Director, and Cinematographer. It is an intense and fast paced environment that requires dedication and hard work but certainly has it’s rewarding moments. One of these came in the spring of 2013 when I had the chance to shoot a documentary in Japan. Titled “Tohoku Tomo” which roughly translates to “friends of the Tohoku region” the material focused on the ongoing relief efforts in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. I loved the people and culture and often find myself wanting to return. I thoroughly enjoyed this project, but at the end of it felt changed in a peculiar way. I realized that while I love filmmaking and storytelling, I would like to start a new professional chapter of my life. I have gone back to the drawing board and have found that further education is the next step for me. I hope to enroll with CSU LA as a candidate for their Master’s of Information Systems degree in the fall of 2014. I look forward to being back in the classroom!

Amy Smetana (2012) works for AmeriCorps in Oregon.

Kerry Bowen (2011) works for the Jewish Service Corps, a non-profit that helps people transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency.

Jenna Fleming (2011) lives in Udaipur, Rajasthan, and is the International Volunteer Coordinator for Development Action Awareness Nationwide (DAAN).

Ben Marks (2008) received a MA in Sociology from UC Riverside, and is now research and program officer at First Nations Development Institute in Fredericksburg.

Deanna Lavery has an MSW from VCU, and is working at Housing Opportunities Made Equal, in Richmond.

Kristin (Magill) Harding (2011) is Community Services Coordinator for the Rappahannock Council Against Sexual Assault.